Tweet {photo credit} Remember that old 90’s rap song by the Old School Players? I don’t know what they were rapping out back then, but it’s a good reminder of what we need to do today as better business men/women and in general freelancers. I saw the King and Queen of comedy Tina Fey and Steve Carell on the Oprah Winfrey show months ago. They were talking about their movie Date Night and were asked what they admired about one another. Fey said, “The kind of detail and specificity that he (Steve Carell) brings to his character Michael Scott of The…
-
-
Tweet Well actually I don’t. And I don’t know what you’re doing this summer either. But I know what I’m doing. While lots of writers are taking off to go on vacation (and rightly they should for working their butts off all year!), I’m working harder than ever. Why? Because some businesses are still in business and need writers to fill in. Because downtime is a good excuse to get working on other areas of your business. While the mice are playing, the cats shall be working. So what should you be doing now?
-
Tweet I’ve become enamored with Martha Beck’s book, “The Joy Diet: 10 Daily Practices for a Happier Life.” Knee deep in chapter 4 (Creativity), I’ve been filled with mind blowing concepts that has thrilled me to no end. One of the titillating tidbits made me question my own freelance writing business skills and I thought I’d share the wealth with you. I’m sure you already know that your thoughts control your actions. Saying to yourself hundred times of day, “I’m not good enough to make it as a freelancer,” for example, will inevitably help your thoughts become reality. But I…
-
Tweet I’m not a magician, but over time I’ve learned the magic of transforming nothing into everything. Here’s what I mean. When you have a dream to work at home as a freelance writer, you basically start from nothing. You may have a handful of clients to begin with (and if you do kudos to you!), but in general you’re starting from scratch. When you blog, for example, all you have is a blinking white screen staring at you. You’ve got no fans on Facebook, zero tweeps following you on Twitter and no one reading your blogs. If you’re on a…
-
Tweet This post will cover the five things you shouldn’t do (not including the basics like failing to do any work for a client or refusing to pay a freelancer) if you want a healthy, happy long-term and profitable business relationship. Whether you’re a freelancer or a start-up looking to hire a freelancer, there are a few things you should know before you start something new. You wouldn’t marry the first person that you meet, so why jump blindly into a partnership with a client/freelancer you hardly know? To prevent lots of time wasted, money lost and bridges burned, read what not…
-
Tweet photo by: Express Monorail Have you ever been stunned like a deer-caught-in-the headlights when someone asks you, “What you do for a living?” Well I have and I can’t plea ignorance on this one! All over the web, articles on creating an elevator speech have been popping up. I’ve seen them, read them, but failed to do anything about it.
-
Tweet Remember Gavin de Becker’s 1997 book, “The Gift of Fear?” A potential employer gave it to me during one of their intensive interviews. Strange gift for most jobs, but this one fit the bill. I was interviewing for work as a private investigator. Surprisingly, I got the job. My one year stint as a PI was more than I bargained for. But one thing I learned from the book and the job was to follow my instincts. Or so I thought. Like Jesaka I’ve had to relearn the lesson time and time again. As a P.I., not trusting my…
-
Tweet This past weekend I attended the first ever National Magazine Day at a local San Francisco bookstore called, “BookSmith.” Although I missed the first 5 hours of food, drink, and fun of skimming through hundreds of magazines, I did get there in time for what may have been the best part. Hearing what’s hot in the magazine industry from a group of writers/magazine publishers (Local writer Kevin Smokler, Derek Powazek (Fray), Jen Angel (formerly of Clamor), Jeremy Smith (of the digital Shareble.net), and Andrew Leland (managing editor of The Believer).
-
Tweet The belief that we should ask for what we need is a difficult concept for me. I am a woman for one and a minority for another. I’ve been brought up to believe statements like, “You can’t really do anything about it. Don’t bother/make trouble. Just let it go.” This is the reason why I used to wonder if I was born in the right family. If I didn’t look so much like my parents, I might really question where I came from. Instead, I took on a different belief system. The belief that I could do anything and…
-
Tweet Photo by: roberthuffstutter My husband and I hobbled on over to a used car lot recently. The reason for our less than enthusiastic attitude was our fear of encountering the dreaded stereotypical used car salesman. The man with a big persona (a.k.a. desperate man who talks too much). You know the guy. The one who hunts you down and seems to pick up your scent even before he sees you. A swarm of salesman suddenly encircles you all in business suits, all waiting until fatigue and desperation gives way to a sale. Okay it might not be THAT bad!…